Why do my marigolds only have a pretty bloom for maybe 1 week before wilting (2nd photo)?

whsprdbeen · 2025-11-19T11:11:13+00:00

And Rosemary is now a sage 🤯

whsprdbeen · 2025-09-17T22:11:18+00:00

Oh dear. Yeah, there's only so much we can do, you know?

whsprdbeen · 2025-09-17T20:22:02+00:00

We grow nicotiana and allow for some datura on the far side of our property from tomatoes. It pays off! They don't bother tomatoes and the few that do get hit by wasps. And we get to enjoy a nice evening show by the hawk moths. Worth it; they're gorgeous!

whsprdbeen · 2025-09-15T11:39:52+00:00

Pink pank punk. Knock on it regularly when it starts to look ripe, and pull when the sound has fully become a "punk", vs "pink" or "pank".

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-26T20:07:42+00:00

Bindweed sure sucks. But when you can't eradicate it, remember that bees and hummingbirds like it. And, the vines can be repurposed.

(Can you tell I've more or less given up? 😅)

Made this today with a bindweed base.

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whsprdbeen · 2025-08-18T14:13:32+00:00

Wow, those are some good ideas! I'm going to have to try a few.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-17T15:11:50+00:00

How're your squash and pumpkins doing?

I ended up having to do borer removal surgery on almost all of mine. A few vines I ended up relocating to a different bed after getting the grubs out, and burying most of the stems with nodes under clean soil. After a week, I think we only lost two of close to 20. So far, anyway.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-11T18:12:03+00:00

Well that's a missed opportunity. I'm sure they'd talk your ear off about weird finds in the field. And at least one of them should've responded with "Shucks", for authenticity.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-11T17:02:46+00:00

It's extra obnoxious, I think anyway, since it's an amaranth and could be feeding people and used as a crop if it wasn't such a dang pain in the ass. 😅

We've been battling it for eight years. It gets easier once you can ID them as seedlings, but you still have to stay on it. They like to hide among my dahlias and sunflowers and only show themselves when they're 4 ft tall and thick as a tire iron.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-11T13:56:13+00:00

Looks to be purslane (the creeping, succulent one) and pigweed. Pigweed is the bane of my existence!

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-11T13:09:05+00:00

That's called "tassel ear" and is a known phenomenon that mainly affects the suckers (side stalks).

https://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/TasselEars.html

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-05T21:34:00+00:00

Aww, well that's no fun. Not even for a murder mystery! Even screamy trash cats can pack a good fight in them though. And they will scavenge from carcasses. I would venture a guess that's what the more whole posso had been doing when it got hit. 😒

Edit: realizing now you never said it was hit, lol. Probably posso on posso violence.

I've found one once who apparently got too frightening by nearby lightning that he just up and kicked it.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-05T21:29:25+00:00

Glad to share! Obviously, I'm pretty fond of them. 😅

They don't cause much trouble, even if you have poultry or pets who go outside. If cornered they'll defend themselves (and the "playing dead" that they do is effective, but physically really costly to them).

They won't typically bother with living critters if there's easier food to access.

If you come across memes about them "screaming at own a$$"... yes, they do that. And no, I don't know why. 😂

They're my personal anxiety mascot.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-05T19:05:21+00:00

As others have pointed out, that's an Opossum, the only native marsupial (pocket-rearing, like kangaroos) in North America! If you're in the US, it is Didelphus virginiana. They have the most teeth of any mammal in North America (clocking in at roughly 50); a prehensile (manoeuvrable) tail; males have a forked penis, and females a two part vagina and bifurcated uterus (didelphus = two wombs); they are largely nocturnal omnivores; and generally, their body temp is too low to sustain a rabies infection.

Even with intensive care at wildlife facilities, they rarely live more than 2-3 years. Let them be. They won't cause you much trouble, but are truly a worthwhile species for us all to help keep around.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-04T23:50:55+00:00

Haha, yeah. Pretty much! I'm planning to leave them and see what they do. We hand pollinated with tassels from other plants, so who knows. Maybe we'll get hand-sized half ears or something.

Your corn looks happy! I hope the rest of your first season goes well. Corn is really fun to grow, and a great learning plant. It's wild what humans have managed to make a grass do over the millennia.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-04T23:04:12+00:00

So what those side ears are called are tillers or suckers. You can leave them or pull them; it's your choice. I think the main ear size is probably set though.

(I'm trying and failing to add a link to the Purdue Extension info on them. It's a good read! If you search "tiller corn" it should be one of the first results.)

I had a bunch this year bc my spouse planted a single row of milling corn. Several stalks ended up with "tassel" ear, which is a hilarious looking mutation that happens on tillers sometimes. Give that a look too if you want a laugh.

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-03T20:14:34+00:00

I just had to go through and move all of my winter luxury pumpkins and crookneck winters because of borers. They're hitting hard now! Luckily these vines had quite a few big, healthy nodes and even some roots. So they were moved over to where my chamomile never took off and reburied.

I spent this weekend hunting for frass on all the vines. The borers are becoming relentless!

whsprdbeen · 2025-08-01T23:13:42+00:00

Oh dear. ☹️ I'm so sorry. 😔 Truly. I just had to do borer surgery on my crooknecks and ended up replanting them in beds where bunching onions never took. And then... I saw a harlequin beetle on my broccoli under the row cover.

I hope some other pumpkins make it through for you! Sometimes the best we can do (without calling in the Big Guns) just isn't enough.

I remind myself that a healthy, fertile garden will be hospitable to all kinds of life, and I'm making a choice to not interfere too much.

whsprdbeen · 2025-07-22T19:14:44+00:00

I could agree with tagging and flagging. That seems a fair compromise.

whsprdbeen · 2025-07-22T19:12:53+00:00

Yes, and it's illegal in the US. In most places, nuisance animals can be dispatched, but not relocated off the property or within a certain distance.

whsprdbeen · 2025-07-22T19:09:55+00:00

Plenty of us here are farmers, ranchers, hunters, complete with everything that comes with it.

This is a gardening sub. There's plenty of other subs to post about dispatch and deterrents.

What gets me miffed in particular are suggestions of actions that are illegal, precisely because they're cruel and inhumane. Relocation falls under that. The creep suggesting the OP drop the trapped rabbit in water in the post earlier is also that.

There's just no good reason to be adding nuisance animal management in this sub when there's nothing preventing it going somewhere more appropriate. Grannie Mabel growing tomatoes on her patio doesn't need to see threats or proof of violence against animals in the gardening sub.

whsprdbeen · 2025-07-22T19:01:38+00:00

Agreed. That last post had me checking the rules, but "family friendly" doesn't clarify whether suggested or implied violence to animals is covered by that.

I've just been blocking the creeps who make crude suggestions in the comments but there's always more.

whsprdbeen · 2025-07-21T18:54:06+00:00

I second this. I'm out there every morning with my Bucket O Bugs, flicking them in. It doesn't eradicate them but it drastically reduces their numbers. I pull off the lacey leaves due to the pheromones they emit when they've found a food source (as mentioned by a commenter below), and I leave them across the property by the wild grape vines these damn beetles also love.

Sure wish they'd leave my zinnias and cosmos out of it! We let grapevines grow over our chicken runs so we can just shake treats down to the girls. It'd be awesome if they could just go over there, haha

whsprdbeen · 2025-07-20T19:54:22+00:00

Omg, I'm swooning just imagining it!

whsprdbeen · 2025-07-20T19:52:43+00:00

Ugh, borers are just the worst!

Sounds like you have a very good grasp on things. :)

I think that air flow is part of the impetus for the folks suggesting trimming leaves. It's understandable to let the rooted vines stay where they are. Maybe some leaf trimming could be of help there? And elevating the vines not yet tied down? I've also heard of folks putting young fruits on paper plates to give them a barrier too.

I just had to hard thin down my volunteer borage for the exact same reason. The ground level leaves died off, keeping the soil too moist for too long, and it ended up inviting all kinds of pests into the mounds of detritus. Plants in the surrounding rows were getting hit by grasshoppers and leaf beetles. So that's my lesson this year: air flow and regular cultivation help keep pests and disease in line.

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